I have to confess. I have been the worse steward/gardener to my dwarf marigolds and boston fern, ever. They have received no water in the last two days of a 13 day heat wave.

Temperatures reached up between 85F and 99F degrees, even breaking records in my area. They have been outside feeling neglected and I’ve been inside feeling run-down. The quality of air has been in the “Moderate” to “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” range and grass pollen has been high everyday this month. My excuse for neglecting them: grass pollen!

After realizing how badly the dwarf marigolds looked, I gave them a heaping drink of water. I also watered the boston fern.They looked a heck of a lot better, in comparison. I want to be a boston fern when I grow up. I can’t stand the summer heat and pollen.

This is how my dwarf marigold looks this morning after watering. Yes!

The good news is that according to the national meteorologist, we are in the “Beat the Heat” area of the country. I can hear my dwarf marigolds singing now, “oh, oh, what a relief it is!”

How did your garden fare during this “pre” summer heat wave? Are you in an area not getting any relief or are you with me in the “beat the heat” zone?

UPDATE: I forgot I had pictures on my Android cellphone of some red insects just chilling out on my dwarf marigolds. They reminded me that they were the real reason I started neglecting my small garden. Shame on them!

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I am not sure what kind of insect that is and it is very hard to find on the internet. The only thing I could come up with is a Assassin Nymph. Maybe it is in the early stages. Hope this helps narrow down your search. Your blog is great! Keep up the good work!

Hi NeeNee, I apologize to you and others for the poor quality of the photos. I can’t find a red color insect that looks exactly like my photo but I did find a video on the name you gave me. I’m inclined to believe that they are the same insect but different color and at a different stage. What gives them away to being similar, I think, are the eyes. They are dark and buggy. 🙂

I’m going to submit the photos to http://bugguide.net/node/view/6/bgimage for their identification, to be triple sure. Will keep the blog updated. Thanks again for your help. You could be the winner. woot!

Hi NeeNee, thanks for coming in and leaving your comments and words of encouragement. I appreciate you taking the time to do some research on this pest. It is very hard to find anything close to it in color. Hopefully someone knows what it is and will leave a comment. I would gladly give a small gift of some kind to anyone who can rightfully identify it.
Have a great day!